Kawanihan ng Pagwawasto | |
Agency overview | |
---|---|
Formed | 1905 |
Jurisdiction | Government of the Philippines |
Headquarters | New Bilibid Prison Reservation, Muntinlupa |
Annual budget | ₱6.11 billion (2023) [1] |
Agency executives |
|
Parent agency | Department of Justice |
Website | https://www.bucor.gov.ph/ |
The Bureau of Corrections (Filipino : Kawanihan ng Pagwawasto, [3] literally "Bureau of Corrections", of which it was known as the Bureau of Prisons from 1905 to 1989; abbreviated BuCor) is an agency of the Department of Justice which is charged with the custody and rehabilitation of national offenders, commonly known as Persons Deprived of Liberty or PDL, who have been sentenced to three years of imprisonment [4] or more. The agency has its headquarters in the New Bilibid Prison Reservation in Muntinlupa. [5]
It is currently headed by Director General Usec. Gregorio Catapang Jr. The bureau has 2,862 employees, 61% of whom are custodial (uniformed) officers, 33% are non-uniformed personnel and 6% are members of the medical service. [4]
Safekeeping and instituting reformation programs to national Persons Deprived of Liberty (PDL's) sentenced to more than 3 years. [6]
TO PROTECT THE PUBLIC BY SAFEKEEPING AND REFORMING PERSONS UNDER OUR CUSTODY ADHERING TO INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS OF CORRECTIONS SERVICE.
A safer society by 2028 through reformed persons reintegrated by a highly efficient and competent corrections service.
The Bureau of Corrections currently have 7 operating units located nationwide: [4]
The following ranks are in force in the BuCor. While the Bureau forms part of the Department of Justice, its ranks follow those of the uniformed services in the Department of the Interior and Local Government.
Commissioned Officers
Non- Commissioned Officers
While the BuCor reports to the Department of Justice, in the past it sported a military rank system mirroring the former Integrated National Police and therefore similar to the Chilean Gendarmerie and the Italian Corpo degli Agenti di Custodia. Until 1989 officers and agents sported "Prisons" in their rank title.
Rank |
---|
Prisons Colonel |
Prisons Lieutenant Colonel |
Prisons Major |
Prisons Captain |
Prisons Lieutenant |
Prisons Sergeant |
Prisons Corporal |
Civil Guardsman First Class |
Civil Guardsman |
The Old Bilibid Prison which was located on Oroquieta Street in Manila was established in 1847 and by a Royal Decree formally opened on April 10, 1866. On August 31, 1870, the San Ramon Prison and Penal Farm was established in Zamboanga City for Muslim and political prisoners opposed to the rule of Spain.
The Iuhit penal Settlement now known as Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm was established in 1904 by the Americans in 28,072 hectares of land. The land areas expanded to 40,000 hectares in the late 1950s. [8] and expanded again to 41,007 hectares by virtue of Executive Order No. 67 issued by Governor Newton Gilbert on October 15, 1912.
The Bureau of Prisons was created under the Reorganization Act of 1905 as an agency under the Department of Commerce and Police. The Reorganization Act also re-established the San Ramon Prison in 1907 which was destroyed during the Spanish–American War in 1898. The prison was placed under the Bureau of Prisons and receive prisoners in Mindanao. [8]
The Correctional Institution for Women was founded on November 27, 1929, by virtue of Act No. 3579 as the first and only prison for women in the Philippines. [8] Later, on January 21, 1932, the bureau opened the Davao Penal Colony in Southern Mindanao. [8]
The New Bilibid Prison was established in 1935 in Muntinlupa due to the increased rate of prisoners. [8]
Proclamation No. 72 issued on September 26, 1954, established the Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm in Occidental Mindoro, and the Leyte Regional Prison was established on January 16, 1973, under Proclamation No. 1101. [8]
The Administrative Code of 1987 and Proclamation No. 495, issued on November 22, 1989, changed the agency's name to the current Bureau of Corrections from Bureau of Prisons. [8]
Director-General | Term |
---|---|
George M. Wolfe | 1904 – 1910 |
M. L. Stewart | 1910 – 1914 |
W.H. Dade | 1914 – 1920 |
Julius W. Quillen | 1920 – 1923 |
Ramon Victorio | 1923 – 1930 |
Lt. Col. Paulino Santos | 1930 – 1937 |
Maj. Eriberto B. Misa Sr. | 1937 – 1949 |
Eustaquio Balagtas | 1949 – 1954 |
Atty. Alfredo M. Bunye | 1954 – 1958 |
Enrique A. Fernandez | 1958 – 1962 |
Col. Jason Angeles | 1962 |
Felix P. Amante | 1962 – 1965 |
Col. Dominador Danan | 1965 – 1966 |
B/Gen. Alejo Santos | 1967 – 1971 |
B/Gen. Vicente R. Raval | 1971 – 1982 |
Catalino Macaraig Jr. | 1979 |
Atty. Ramon J. Liwag | 1982 |
B/Gen. Vicente E. Eduardo | 1982 – 1986 |
Lt. Col. Edralin Palacios | 1986 |
B/Gen. Meliton D. Goyena | 1986 – 1991 |
Atty. Cleto B. Senoren | 1991 |
Eriberto B. Misa Jr. | 1991 – 1993 |
Atty. Vicente G. Vinarao (first term) | 1994 – 1998 |
Lt. Gen. Pedro G. Sistoza | 1998 – 2001 |
Col. Ricardo B. Macala | 2001 – 2003 |
Usec. Dionisio Santiago | 2003 – 2004 |
Atty. Vicente G. Vinarao (second term) | 2004 – 2007 |
Ricardo B. Dapat | 2007 |
Usec. Oscar C. Calderon | 2007 – 2010 |
Gen. Ernesto L. Diokno | 2010 – May 2011 |
Atty. Manuel G. Co (first term) | May – August 2011 |
Lt. Gen. Gaudencio S. Pangilinan Jr. | August 2011 – August 2012 |
Atty. Manuel G. Co (second term) | August – November 2012 |
Atty. Rafael Marcos Z. Ragos | November 2012 – March 2013 |
Franklin Jesus Bucayu | March 2013 – 2015 |
Lt. Gen. Ricardo Rainier G. Cruz | 2015 – June 2016 |
Rolando Asuncion (OIC) | June – November 2016 |
Atty. Benjamin Delos Santos | November 2016 – July 13, 2017 |
Asec. Valfrie Tabian (OIC) | July 14, 2017 – April 30, 2018 |
Usec. Ronald dela Rosa | April 30 – October 12, 2018 |
Usec. Nicanor Faeldon | November 21, 2018 – September 5, 2019 |
Melvin Ramon G. Buenafe (OIC) | September 6–20, 2019 |
Usec. Gerald Q. Bantag | September 20, 2019 – October 21, 2022 |
Gregorio Catapang Jr. [7] | October 21, 2022 – present |
The logo of the bureau represents the government agency's mandate, the rehabilitation of inmate. The logo focuses on the man in prison as the main concern of rehabilitation. It presents man behind bars, but who looks outwards with the hope of rejoining the free community. The 7 rays of the sun represent the 7 operating prisons and penal farms who carry out the reformation programs of the bureau. The color green symbolizes hope. The color orange is symbolic of happiness. The bar of justice represents the Philippine justice system.
When the Philippines had the death penalty, male inmates condemned to death were held at New Bilibid Prison and female inmates condemned to death were held at Correctional Institution for Women (Mandaluyong). [9] The death chamber for inmates to be electrocuted was in Building 14, within the Maximum Security Compound of New Bilibid. The Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Museum previously served as the lethal injection chamber. [10]
The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is responsible for all federal prisons and provides for the care, custody, and control of federal prisoners.
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) is the penal law enforcement agency of the government of California responsible for the operation of the California state prison and parole systems. Its headquarters are in Sacramento.
The New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa, Metro Manila is the main insular prison designed to house the prison population of the Philippines. It is maintained by the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) under the Department of Justice (DOJ). As of October 2022, the NBP housed 29,204 inmates, nearly five times its intended capacity of 6,345.
Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm in Puerto Princesa, Palawan, Philippines is one of seven operating units of the Bureau of Corrections under the Department of Justice.
Gregorio Pio Punzalan Catapang Jr., CCLH is a Career Executive Service Eligible Officer, Corrections Officer, and retired Filipino general who served as the 45th Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. He was the Vice Chief of Staff prior to his appointment as head of the armed forces. He was also the former head of the AFP Northern Luzon Command and 7th Infantry Division. He is part of the Philippine Military Academy Dimalupig Class of 1981. He was part of the Reform the Armed Forces Movement. On October 21, 2022, upon the suspension and dismissal of BUCOR Director General Usec. Gerald Bantag, Catapang was appointed by President Bongbong Marcos as the Officer in Charge, and eventually as the Full-Time Undersecretary/Director General of the Bureau of Corrections.
The Philippine National Police, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, National Bureau of Investigation led by Justice secretary Leila de Lima launched a series of raids on the New Bilibid Prison on December 15, 19, and 22, 2014, targeting drug lords allegedly operating inside the prison and to seize contraband reportedly in possession of some of the prison's inmates. Prohibited items such as methamphetamine chloride and other drug paraphernalia, inflatable sex dolls, a stripper bar and jacuzzi were found in air-conditioned villas of high-profile inmates. Police also found other contraband in the prison, such as firearms and bladed weapons, mobile phones, flat-screen TVs, laptops, WIFi, luxury Patek Philippe, Cartier, and Rolex watches, a sauna, and over ₱2 million in cash from body searches of several inmates.
The Correctional Institution for Women (CIW) is a women's prison located in F. Martinez Avenue, Mauway, Mandaluyong, Metro Manila, Philippines. The prison is operated by the Bureau of Corrections.
Poblacion is one of the nine barangays of Muntinlupa, Metro Manila, Philippines. It is also the center of the city, hence the name which translates to center in Spanish.
The Bureau of Jail Management and Penology is an attached agency of the Department of the Interior and Local Government mandated to direct, supervise and control the administration and operation of all district, city and municipal jails in the Philippines with pronged tasks of safekeeping and development of its inmates, officially classed as persons deprived of liberty (PDL).
The New Bilibid Prison drug trafficking scandal is a criminal investigation and political scandal concerning allegations of government involvement in illegal drug trade at the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa, Metro Manila, Philippines. The allegations were made by President Rodrigo Duterte after announcing that the two top convicted drug lords in the country continued to run their drug rings from inside the national penitentiary with former administration officials and their local government cohorts as co-conspirators. On August 25, 2016, Duterte released a drug matrix showing the structure of drug trafficking operations at the New Bilibid Prison and identified the two former top officials of the Department of Justice, the former provincial governor and board member of Pangasinan, and the former Bureau of Corrections director as being involved in the Bilibid narcotics trade.
Jaybee Niño Manicad Sebastian was a Filipino high-profile inmate interned at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) who was convicted for kidnap-for-ransom and carnapping in 2009. He was known for running a prison gang and was allegedly involved in the illegal drug trade within the prison.
Jamboree Lake is a small recreational lake in Muntinlupa, Metro Manila, the Philippines. At 1.5 hectares, it is the smallest natural lake in the country located within the 587-hectare (1,450-acre) New Bilibid Prison Reservation. It is one of two lakes located entirely within the borders of Metro Manila, the other being the artificial La Mesa Dam and Reservoir in Quezon City.
The Muntinlupa Sunken Garden, also known as the New Bilibid Prison Sunken Garden and often shortened to simply Sunken Garden, is a large public urban park and a local government-protected zone in Muntinlupa, southern Metro Manila, the Philippines. It is an open grassy space on the southern shore of Jamboree Lake that is lower than the surrounding elevation in the New Bilibid Prison Reservation. The park is under the joint operation and management of the City Government of Muntinlupa and the Bureau of Corrections.
The good conduct time allowance (GCTA) controversy started in August 2019 involving the employees of the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor). It begins with Bureau of Corrections Director General Nicanor Faeldon and several other government officials signing the document containing the release of former Calauan, Laguna Mayor Antonio Sanchez, the prime suspect in the rape and murder of Eileen Sarmenta and her friend Allan Gomez in 1993, and the release of Josman Aznar, Ariel Balansag, Alberto Caño and James Anthony Uy, the 4 suspects in the rape and murder of sisters Marijoy and Jacqueline Chiong in 1997, citing "good conduct."
The Manila City Jail, popularly known as Old Bilibid Prison, is a detention center in Manila, Philippines. It is one of the most overcrowded jails in the world.
On July 2, 1991, Eldon Maguan, a 25 year old engineering student at De La Salle University, was shot in the head by Rolito Go, a 43 year old construction magnate in a road rage incident at Wilson Street in Little Baguio, San Juan, Metro Manila, the Philippines.
On October 3, 2022, Percy Lapid, a radio journalist and radio broadcaster, was shot dead while on his way home in Las Piñas, Metro Manila, Philippines.
Gerald Quitaleg Bantag is a former Filipino corrections officer and retired jail officer who served as Director-General of the Bureau of Corrections. As of July 2023, a manhunt is underway for his capture due to his alleged major role in the killing of Percy Lapid in 2022.
On August 13, 2016, three Chinese nationals detained at the Davao Prison and Penal Farm in Panabo, Davao del Norte was stabbed to death by two Filipino inmates.